Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi discover themselves working on two sides of the same case when a set of homicides rocks downtown Manhattan. The Jewish community heads for a confrontation with the city's Arab population when an elderly shopkeeper is found slain beneath a mirror on which is scrawled a hate-filled message in Arabic. In neighboring Brooklyn, a 16-year-old Arab runaway seeks refuge in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen, where she becomes caught up in an ugly world of prostitution and drugs. After murderously defending herself against a malicious pimp, she escapes to a woman's shelter on the Lower East Side, into the helping hands of Marlene. As special prosecutor, Butch joins the hunt for the murderes, finding himself in conflict with his own Jewish heritage and the realization that Marlene's case is inextricably linked to his own. As tensions build and fear escalates, New York City becomes a powderkeg of twisted emotions in a case of kill or be killed!
